


First Words & Old Grudges

by Hisha



Series: Auntie Hornet [2]
Category: Hollow Knight (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Hornet is Grimmchild's new caretaker now, Post-Dream No More Ending (Hollow Knight)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-14
Updated: 2019-08-14
Packaged: 2020-08-20 17:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20231926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hisha/pseuds/Hisha
Summary: Grimmchild utters their first words and meets up again with an old enemy





	First Words & Old Grudges

Dirtmouth hadn't been so active in a long time. New bugs kept coming, eager to start a new life. In, around and below the town, new homes were being built. Elderbug kept complaining about the noise to anyone who would listen (and even to those who wouldn't), but he also appreciated the place not feeling so lonely anymore.

Hornet would regularly travel between the Distant Village and Dirtmouth to oversee how things were going. Sometimes, she would bring from the depths of Hallownest whatever material the workers needed but couldn't find on either the surface or the upper levels of the ancient kingdom. A couple times, a bug big enough to be ridden by the others came, and she convinced them to work in the stagways so the Old Stag didn't have to do all the work alone. Once, a fight had broken out between two other bugs, and she lept in-between them to stop the fight. She didn't even need to raise her needle for this to work instantly.

Hornet was now helping Taon the merchant and a small group of ant workers build a brand new store from the surrounding earth and material scavenged down below. Once the main structure was done, she started making some silk sheets for the window display. Since she was focused on the task, when Scarlet, who was in the air right next to her, started making sounds, she didn't respond right away.

“'Net.”

This got her attention and made her stop to look at the little flying being.

“Did you just speak?” she asked.

Scarlet had never used actual words before.

“...'Net.”

“No, I am making a- Wait. Are you by any chance trying to say my name?”

“'Net.”

“It's Hornet.”

The child just kept repeating the last syllable over and over.

“Hor...net”, its caretaker insisted.

Scarlet started laughing.

“You're a mischievous thing, aren't you”, Hornet said.

Still, she couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of the child for uttering its first words.

“Did you want something, Scarlet?” she continued. “Food, maybe?”

Scarlet nodded ; Hornet reached into her pocket for a fresh fruit that she handed to the child. She gave it a gentle pat on the head then went back to work.

A little while later, Millibelle made her way to Dirtmouth, hoping to maybe <strike>scam</strike> offer her services to the new inhabitants.

As she was looking for a good spot to set up her stand, she heard a familiar cry, followed by a fireball flying right past her head. She immediately sprinted away, not even bothering to check where it came from. She didn't need to ; she already had all the clues she needed to understand that the flying fire-spitting monster was back and not at all happy to see her. The thing pursued her with its fireballs over a small distance while someone else shouted : “Scarlet, stop!”

The thing gave out a scream of protest, and the fireballs ceased. Millibelle stopped running and finally looked behind her to see a young-looking lady in red standing next to the creature whose body was all wrapped in white silk and rolling in the dirt. The <strike>thief</strike> banker started thanking her saviour, but before she could finish the first word, the thing burned its silk bindings and resumed the chase. The other had to leap in-between it and its prey, who cowered behind her, to get it to finally stop.

“I'll- I'll never steal again, I swear!” Millibelle shouted, covering her face, “I'll g-get a honest job!”

The one in the red dress looked at her, then back at the creature.

“Scarlet? No more fighting in town or I won't bring you with me anymore”, she scolded. “And you...”

She turned to the other lady before continuing :

“I do not know what happened before, but I hope for your own sake that you will hold to your words.”

“I will! I will! I promise!”

Millibelle hurried to the stagway station while the thing hissed at her.

“Remind me never to get on your pet's bad side”, Taon said to Hornet after they'd witnessed the whole chase scene.

“Scarlet is not a pet”, she explained, “but the closest thing to a family I have left.”

“...Oh. I'm so sorry.”

“You didn't know.”

“Anyway, hum...” the merchant absentmindedly cleaned their big compound eyes with their forelimbs. “Since you've been helpin' me out and supportin' me and all... I asked the workers to build you a lil' house up here too, so, you know, you won't have to commute all across the map every single day.”

“That is very generous of you. I did not expect such a great gift.”

“Hey, don't mention it. Or people will start expectin' that of me.”

Scarlet landed on Hornet's head to rest for a little while.

“Thank you so much, Taon”, she said. “Have you already paid the workers for this?”

“I gave 'em their first paycheck.”

“I will pay their next one. I gathered a lot of geo in the depths of Hallownest.”

“Greatly appreciated”, Taon said. “Thanks. That's one less thing for me to worry about.”

“You are very much welcome.”

Scarlet wrapped itself in its wings and closed its eyes to sleep, still balanced on Hornet's head.

“Cute _and_ deadly”, Taon commented.

When the little creature slept like this, they thought, you could almost forget how unsettling its, well, scarlet eyes could be. They were starting to get used to it though.

The sun was now slowly setting on Dirtmouth. Taon and Hornet parted ways and each of them went back to their own living quarters for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I just love the whole Grimmchild-attacking-the-banker easter egg


End file.
